Cause Coffee – More Than Just Beans
Cause Coffee is bringing the community together, one cup at a time.
Photos by McKenna Neef
Driving through De Soto, Kansas, you may not notice the white house sitting on the corner of West 83rd and Peoria Street. Built in 1910, this historical building looks no different than any other picturesque home – complete with a white porch, chimney and flowers lining the front steps. But take a closer look, and you’ll notice a seemingly constant stream of smiling faces walking in and out of the front door. Take a step through that door yourself, and you’ll be met with the aroma of brewing beans, the chatter of countless conversations and a space where coffee is so much more than a beverage.
Welcome to Cause Coffee.
How a Cappuccino Created a Vision
When a 15-year-old Tara Stucky tried her first cappuccino in a California coffee shop, she fell in love with that perfect combination of frothed milk and espresso and decided she would one day open a shop of her own. But as she grew older, she discovered not all of her passions could be poured. After working to aid the orphan crisis and water crisis, Tara Stucky developed a newfound sense of purpose in helping others. Yet, as the years passed, she still had that craving for coffee.
“Maybe eight or nine years ago, I just woke up one day and – I know this sounds cheesy – but I had this epiphany moment where it occurred to me: Why can't I do everything that is important to me, but do one thing instead of 12 different things?” Tara Stucky explains. “What would happen if I still open my coffee shop, but it would be a nonprofit?”
In March of 2018, after construction, remodeling and plenty of planning, that epiphany came to life and Cause Coffee opened for business.
Coffee With a Cause
As stated on their website, Cause Coffee aims to educate the Kansas City community on coffee, sustainable growth and fair trade practices.
“In our kitchen and in our barista bar...everything has been sourced so that we know that it is being paid for – whether it's the people that harvest it, that grow it – that they are being actually paid in the way that they should and that their lives are bettering from the purchase of our coffee and our tea,” Tara Stucky says.
All of their products are ethically sourced and, after paying operational expenses, all revenue is given to various charitable causes both at home and around the globe.
Since their opening just four years ago, Cause Coffee has worked on various projects for Kansas City’s homeless population, given aid to an orphanage in Haiti, worked on a project for Kansas City’s blind community, helped victims of abuse through a Missouri-based organization, donated to Kansas City’s Grace Blankets and worked with coffee bean farmers in Honduras to help them get their own coffee company up and running.
Tara Stucky’s daughter, Carson Stucky, has been a part of Cause Coffee since day one and currently serves as the shop’s assistant manager. “We’ve had a great community of baristas here,” she says.
Because they have volunteers from a wide variety of shops, baristas come in with different processes. In order to maintain consistency in their drinks, Cause Coffee trains every barista that steps behind the bar. “Whatever drink you got your first time will still be the same when you come in the next three times,” explains Carson Stucky.
Small Shop, Big Impact
KayLene Seaman is a long-time Cause Coffee regular, making the drive from Olathe every single Saturday to get her weekly dose of caffeine and conversation. “It’s coffee with a cause, so not only is it beautiful…but I knew my money was going to a good place,” she says.
Thanks to its charitable missions and homey atmosphere, Cause brews a sense of community.
“Because of faithful customers and people wanting to be a part of something that means something…we've been able to do a lot of tangible good and we've been able to see how it affects their lives,” says founder Tara Stucky.
That historic building in De Soto, Kansas may no longer be a house, but it continues to foster the same values. Through charity, education, community and coffee, Cause Coffee brings an entirely new meaning to home.
Cause Coffee is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays. You can learn more about them on their website or at their Instagram, @causecoffeekc.
